New Beginnings
by keeponwarbling
Summary: Blaine gets himself roped into a date with Sebastian Smythe, the boy that has spent every day since their first year antagonising him. As time passes, though, and he gets to know Sebastian a little better, he starts to believe that the date may not be as much of a horrendous prospect as he'd originally anticipated. [Seblaine Week Day 4: Hogwarts]


"Hey, Anderson, I bet you can't beat me in a race."

Blaine rolled his eyes, not even bothering to turn in the other boy's direction.

"Who does he think he is?" Rachel snarled, linking arms with Blaine as they trudged towards the doors to the Entrance Hall, completely ignoring Sebastian's yells across the courtyard. He was merely background noise, Blaine told himself.

"It's no wonder Hummel chose to transfer to Durmstrang," Sebastian drawled loudly, attracting the attention of several surrounding students and causing Blaine to stall his pace. "I mean, Anderson is so frigid – it's a wonder they lasted as long as they did."

"Don't do it, Blaine." Rachel warned him.

Blaine closed his eyes, gathering himself for a second.

"It's okay, Killer. That ass is too good for Ladyface anyway – why don't you try someone a little more masculine for once?" Ugh, Blaine could practically hear the leer on the other sixth year student's smug face.

He sent an apologetic glance at Rachel, before whirling around to meet Sebastian's eyes. "If you're referring to yourself, _Smythe_ , I wouldn't date you if you were the last man on Earth. I'd rather stab my own eyes out with my wand."

Sebastian smirked, clearly proud that he managed to gain some attention, and Blaine berated himself internally, because of _course_ that was Sebastian's aim.

"Care to put your delicious ass where your mouth is? Or I can put my mouth where your-"

Blaine growled loudly, interrupting him through gritted teeth. "What the hell do you _want_ , Sebastian?"

"A bet. Beat me in a race across the courtyard on our brooms. If you win, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the year."

A bet that Blaine knew was far too generous to come without a catch of some sort. "And if I lose?"

"Then you'll attend the Yule Ball as my date."

The one thing about the Triwizard Tournament that hadn't been scrapped, in all honesty. He was just a baby when the last one was held at Hogwarts, but he'd heard it had been particularly nasty, resulting in the death of a Hufflepuff student. Since then, the tournament had been banned, but the Yule Ball remained in its place.

Hunter snorted beside Sebastian, sending his friend conspiratorial glances.

"Blaine, don't. He's up to something," Rachel muttered in his ear.

"I know." Blaine replied. But then again – a whole year without having to listen to Sebastian's whiny voice? Without having to suffer through their joint Charms and Care of Magical Creatures lessons with the Slytherins being pestered by the other? It was too tempting to pass up.

And if he lost - well, one date with Sebastian Smythe wasn't the end of the world, no matter how antagonising it was.

"Deal." Blaine grumbled.

" _Blaine_ ," Rachel scolded, shaking her head. "I can't believe you're falling for this. You know he's going to cheat somehow, don't you?"

Still, Blaine was already holding his wand, muttering the summoning spell before Rachel had the chance to protest again, his Nimbus 2020 soaring towards him from the window of the tower. He felt a brief gust of wind accompanied by a familiar _whoosh_ as Sebastian's Firebolt Extreme flew past him towards the Slytherin.

Shaking her head in disappointment, Rachel walked over to join the interested crowd lining the edges of the courtyard, watching the two boys stride towards one another - Blaine with narrowed eyes, and Sebastian with delighted glee on his face.

"Just to be clear, Sebastian. I win, you leave me alone entirely – that means no insults, jeers, flirting, comments about my ass – no talking to me at all. Got that?"

"Loud and clear," Sebastian replied, topping it off with a mocking salute.

"And if you win, it's just a date. I'll attend the ball with you, but we're _not_ kissing."

"You have to at least dance with me, though." Sebastian told him, lowering his broomstick so that he could step over it. "I mean, it's only fair."

Blaine huffed, readying his own broomstick. "Fine. One dance."

"Ready-"

"Set-"

So, of course, Blaine had ended up as Sebastian's date for the Yule Ball. Of _course_ he did, because that was just Blaine's luck, wasn't it?

Although, he wasn't entirely convinced that Sebastian hadn't cheated somehow. Blaine had been pretty sure that when his broomstick stalled unexpectedly, he heard Hunter covering up some words with a cough – but when he glanced up to glare at the Slytherin, he appeared to be in an animated conversation with Nick Duval. By the time he managed to get his Nimbus 2021 ready again, Sebastian had already reached the goal, standing watching Blaine struggle, the corners of his lips quirked up into a smirk, broomstick slung over his shoulder.

So, yeah. Needless to say, Blaine felt a little disgruntled and cheated.

The only thing was, now that he'd locked Blaine down for the date, Sebastian couldn't seem to leave him alone.

Like, now, for example. They were in Potions together, and because the world had been extra _extra_ cruel to Blaine that morning, he had winded up making it into class five minutes late – the only free seat being the one next to Sebastian. He sent a scowl at Hunter, who waved at him with a cold smirk from the seat that Blaine usually occupied, beside an extremely confused looking Sam.

So, naturally, they ended up paired together when Professor Sylvester announced that it was time for the practical portion of the lesson.

"What colour of dress robes do you think I should wear?" Sebastian asked, crushing the ingredients with the mortar and pestle as Blaine stirred the cauldron carefully.

He just shrugged, pointedly ignoring the other boy.

"I mean, I suppose green would bring out my eyes, but my mother always said I look particularly dashing in red."

"Just wear whatever the hell you want, Sebastian." Blaine sighed, pouring the mucus into the cauldron and giving it a good stir clockwise.

Sebastian hesitated for a second, before asking, "What are _you_ wearing?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you?" Blaine snorted. He added more herbs and waved his wand swiftly at the potion, watching it bubble slightly. "You can add the mixture now."

Sebastian complied, surprisingly not really saying much else, but Blaine couldn't help but notice the looks that Sebastian was sending him - the small smiles he gave him when he thought that Blaine couldn't see him from the corner of his eye as they worked on the potion together, and when their fingers brushed together when they both went to pick up the same ingredient, Blaine felt his stomach flutter a little.

He watched the potion swirl into a murky brown colour with a sense of trepidation.

The weeks that followed were pretty similar. Sebastian would come and pester him now and again, occasionally sitting next to him during lessons, and Blaine could feel his own walls breaking down brick by brick.

He was pretty sure he'd even seen Sebastian at one of his quidditch games from the corner of his eye, but his attention was momentarily distracted by the steadily approaching quaffle, and by the time his goal was safe, Sebastian was nowhere to be seen in the sea of yellows and reds in the crowd.

Blaine was in no mood to party. So, when he'd returned to the common room after the Hufflepuff seeker had snagged the snitch in the last five minutes of the game, allowing them to overtake Gryffindor by a total of fifty points, he was pretty desperate to escape his celebrating teammates.

"Blainykiiins, nice save back there." Tina squealed, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as he made his way through the crowded floor.

"Thanks, T." Blaine replied with a gentle smile.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just kinda tired. I'm just gonna go lie down."

It wasn't really true. He wasn't tired – he just couldn't really be bothered with the party, and as the Hufflepuff keeper, he doubted very much that anyone would accept that as an excuse. So, instead of making his way to his dorm, he managed to slip back out of the common room unseen (or so he hoped).

He wasn't really sure what he'd been planning to do. Go for a wander – hang out in the Great Hall, walk around the grounds aimlessly. It wasn't late, and curfew wasn't for another couple of hours, so he had plenty of time. Even so, the halls were empty, as they often were at this time in the evening, everyone having finished their meal and scattered off to their own common rooms.

Deciding that fresh air would help him out, Blaine made his way out to the yard, tightening his scarf around his neck. There was a definite chill to the air, and his breath rose from his mouth in little white puffs. Still, it was a nice night – cold, but dry, and the sky was pretty clear, meaning that he'd be able to see the stars.

He stopped in his tracks, though, when he spotted a lone figure out in the yard, hunched over, hands clasped together, staring intently at the marble staircase that he was perched on.

This was a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea.

He approached him anyway.

Sebastian's head snapped up as he heard the scrape of Blaine's shoes. There was something... unsettling about his expression.

"Hey, B." Sebastian said, gazing at him with a small, sad smile. "Thought you'd be celebrating."

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked. He wrapped his arms around his legs as an attempt to warm himself up.

"Nothing," Sebastian replied, a little too quickly, but Blaine could see the redness below his eyes and the worried creases in his forehead.

"You know I don't really believe that, right?"

"It's- I- I don't really want to talk about it." Sebastian mumbled weakly, eyes averted.

It was then that Blaine noticed that Sebastian was holding a crumpled up letter in his hands. Sebastian saw where Blaine's attention was directed to, and he tightened his grip, sending Blaine a glare. "It's none of your damn business anyway."

Blaine just let out a small, humourless puff of laughter at Sebastian's reply, eyes skyward. "You know, I really don't get you."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Yeah? What exactly is it that you don't get?"

"One minute, you're all soft smiles and friendly banter and trying to start a conversation with me, and the next minute you're antagonising me. It's pretty hard to keep up."

"I-" Sebastian blinked, eyes piercing Blaine's. "I'm sorry." He sighed, staring straight ahead now. "I didn't mean to snap. I'm not good at making friends. You may have noticed."

And, yeah, okay – maybe Blaine can be a little honest, too, because he can feel his palms sweating and his heart speeding up in his chest, the rush of warmth as he set his gaze firmly on the other boy. "You know, if you'd just _asked_ me to the Yule Ball, I would have probably said yes."

It was true, incidentally. While it was no secret that Sebastian and Blaine had a sort of rivalry going on, Blaine was kind of maybe big enough to admit that that it was built on top of a budding crush that neither boy knew quite what to do with. It was like pulling pigtails, really. Playground teasing. Except for the part that they were both boys, and at 17, they were maybe getting a little too old for this crap.

Sebastian, though - he was smiling at him – though it didn't quite reach his eyes, the ghost of whatever was bothering him still evident on his face. Still, Blaine couldn't deny that the small smile he received set his chest alight.

"I cheated, you know." Sebastian said.

Blaine nodded, because yeah, he knew. "I figured as much. Hunter's not so great at covering up his spells."

"But you still agreed to go to the ball with me, anyway."

"Yup." Then, Blaine squinted at him. "But, I still don't- I mean, you don't seem like a bad person, Sebastian. I don't understand why you push people away so much."

He gave Blaine a small shrug, "Miss Pillsbury said she thinks it's a defense mechanism. But honestly? I don't know."

At that, Blaine squinted. "You're seeing the school counselor?"

Sebastian's lips dipped into a frown. He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly, and exhaling a little brokenly. Then, he handed Blaine the crumpled paper without a word.

Blaine glanced down, reading the neat, formal scrawl before him.

 _Sebastian,_

 _Your mother doesn't have long left. Please contact me so that we can arrange a visit to St Mungo's immediately. The treatment for Dragon Pox was unsuccessful and her condition has reached the final stage. She has been relocated to the terminal ward._

 _Regards,_

 _Meredith._

Blaine cleared his throat a little awkwardly, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut, heart twisting in his chest. "I'm so sorry, Bas," he whispered.

At that, Sebastian crumpled with a choked sob, body collapsing within itself so that he was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth with his palms covering his face. Blaine hesitated, then nudged himself a little closer so that their sides were pressed together, running his palm over the other boy's back.

Dragon Pox, for the most part, was treatable, but once it reached the final stage, there was nothing that could be done. As much as he wanted to tell Sebastian that it would be okay, he couldn't bring himself to lie.

He _could_ be there for him, though.

"I just- I don't know what to do," Sebastian croaked, his hands combing through his hair.

Blaine's chest ached at the sight. Usually, Sebastian was cool and confident and, yeah, a bit of a dick, but mostly, he never let his emotions get the better of him. He'd never seen Sebastian like this – completely broken, eyes damp, and _fuck_ – he just looked so lost.

With a quick glance at his watch, Blaine saw that curfew was approaching, and cursed internally. He couldn't leave Sebastian like this. He _couldn't_.

"Bas?"

Sebastian sniffled, raising his head to glance at Blaine with wet eyes.

"Do you want some company tonight?"

"I don't want to be alone," Sebastian admitted with a whimper, leaning into Blaine, who wrapped his arms around the trembling boy.

The fact that Sebastian didn't take the opportunity to use an innuendo said it all, really, so he helped Sebastian to his feet, and allowed him to guide him to the dungeons.

Once they got to Sebastian's bed, they fell asleep pretty quickly, and when Sebastian's roommates came in to find Sebastian sound asleep, Blaine curled around him from behind, gripping onto him tight, they said nothing. Probably thought Blaine was another one night stand, truth be told. Blaine didn't really care.

"Do you need me to come with you?"

They were sitting out in the courtyard, heavy robes and house scarves wrapped around them tightly, and Blaine tried not to marvel over the rosy tint drawn from Sebastian's cheeks by the crisp autumn air. Flakes of snow fluttered around them, landing softly on the ground, adding to the thin blanket.

"No, I can't ask you to do that."

Blaine nibbled on his bottom lip, looking around them. Most of the students were going about their business, but a few of them – the few that knew that Blaine and Sebastian had some sort of rivalry going on since they'd started at Hogwarts - were glancing in their direction. He could see Nick and Jeff hunched towards one another, muttering in a conspiratorial manner, sending the occasional confused peek towards them.

Likewise for Rachel and Tina, who passed them on the way to the Great Hall. Rachel just raised an eyebrow, and continued walking without comment. But that didn't mean that Blaine was off the hook - he was sure to be grilled later on – especially since she probably knew that Blaine hadn't spent the night in his own dorm.

He'd worry about that later, though.

"I don't mind," Blaine told Sebastian in reply, snaking an arm around his waist.

Sebastian let out a breath, leaning his head on Blaine's shoulder. "It's fine, I should probably go myself."

"What about the rest of your family? Won't they be there?"

Sebastian's lips pressed into a tight line, but he didn't reply.

"Bas?"

Then, Sebastian wilted even further. "My father walked out on us when I was five... haven't seen him since. He was, or is, a muggle, and I guess he couldn't handle having a magical family." He said it with a slight shrug, but Blaine frowned, tightening his arm around Sebastian.

"There's no one else?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I'm an only child. As was my mother. My grandparents passed a long time ago... it's just us now."

 _Fuck_. Blaine frowned, brows knitting together, working through the pang that he felt for the other boy. It was no wonder that he lashed out as often as he did.

"Who's Meredith?" He asked. It was something he'd been wondering since reading the note. It had been clear that the woman who had written it was not personally involved in the matter from the formal way that she'd addressed Sebastian.

"She's one of the healers that has been taking care of my mother since she was first diagnosed. She's... nice. I guess." He shrugged stiffly.

Blaine nodded, rubbing soft circles on Sebastian's back. "You sure you don't want me to come? I can wait outside, you don't even have to take me into the hospital with you."

"Nah, I'd rather go alone." Sebastian replied softly, eyes fluttering shut as he raised his head towards the sky. "I'll be okay."

He wanted to protest – to demand to accompany him, but this was Sebastian's decision, and he really didn't want to push the tentative friendship that they'd been forming too far. "Okay, Sebastian. Just- if you need me, you know where I am."

Sebastian nodded shortly. "Yeah. Thanks, B," he replied, voice trembling ever so slightly.

Sebastian hadn't returned to Hogwarts in the following weeks, and as autumn steadily turned to winter, Blaine could feel the nausea in his stomach worsen by the day. He was a mess.

His friends noticed, too. Between commenting that he was as pale as a sheet, or that he'd been too quiet lately, Rachel and Tina had made several efforts to get Blaine to open up to them. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate their concern, but it really wasn't his story to tell, and he doubted that Sebastian would want his life story spread about the school like wildfire, anyway.

Needless to say, when Sebastian showed back up at school a week before the Yule Ball, relief flooded through Blaine instantly.

Although, the relief was followed instantly with a pang of guilt, because upon looking closer, Sebastian didn't look good _at all_.

Oh, he doubted anyone else noticed – sure, Sebastian was friendly with a few people in the school, but he didn't have anyone who was close enough to him to notice the slight slouch to his posture, the dark circles under his eyes, or the way that his smile never seemed to truly reach his eyes.

Blaine watched him from across the courtyard, where Hunter seemed to be talking his ear off about something or other, but he could tell that Sebastian wasn't really listening. He was nodding along, but his eyes were glazed over, and his lips were pressed into a tight line. Blaine frowned.

He waited until Hunter had left Sebastian's side in favour of pestering some Ravenclaw girls. There was a group of them, so Blaine couldn't really see them clearly, but he was pretty sure that Marley Rose was among them – whom everyone knew that Hunter harboured a huge crush on.

Blaine's eyes found Sebastian again, who was kicking at the dirt softly with his shoe, hands planted in his pockets, gaze still firmly set on the ground. He heaved a heavy sigh, rising to his feet and making his way over to him.

"Hey, Bas." Blaine said softly, approaching him slowly.

Sebastian's eyes rose to meet his, and he seemed to soften a little, rigid shoulders dipping ever so slightly. "Hey, B," he replied quietly.

Suddenly, Blaine was struck with the realisation that he had no idea what to say. Green eyes bore into his own, as though they were searching for something within Blaine – something that might be able to ease the ache that was so visible on Sebastian, and Blaine let out a soft huff, before drawing Sebastian into his arms.

He stilled at first, but he quickly relaxed into Blaine's touch, wrapping his own arms around him and hooking his chin into Blaine's curls. He felt Sebastian let out a shaky breath.

"Hey," Blaine whispered gently, rubbing his back. "Do you want to get some privacy? You don't have to talk about it, but you don't look like you want to be around people right now. Which I- I guess probably includes me, and I can leave you alone if you want, but you should-"

"Please don't," Sebastian croaked, closing his eyes, trembling a little in Blaine's arms and tightening his grip.

Blaine nodded, withdrawing from the embrace, but running his hand down Sebastian's arm to thread their fingers together. "Come on, my dorm will be empty. We can hang out in there."

Sebastian didn't say anything, just stared down at their entwined hands with bewilderment, but he let Blaine tug him towards the Hufflepuff basement anyway.

When they arrived in Blaine's empty dorm room, he didn't push Sebastian to talk. Without a word, he perched on his bed, patting the empty space beside him, which Sebastian gravitated towards silently.

Soon, they were lying together – Sebastian's head on Blaine's chest, hand splayed over his sternum. Blaine looked down, and his brows crinkled in concern at the sight. There was no sign of the cocky, confidant Slytherin that had challenged him to a race just so that he could rope him into a date with him – no sign of the boy who constantly antagonised Blaine, flirted mercilessly with him, and drove him to his wits end.

No, the boy that he was lying with was completely different – broken, quiet, withdrawn, and Blaine's chest ached to see him that way, because there was nothing he could do to ease the hurt. That, he knew, would take time.

Still, he resolved to do what he could. He carded a hand through Sebastian's hair gently, earning him a soft whimper from the other boy.

For a while they lay like that – Blaine stroking his hair, as Sebastian tried his hardest to keep himself together.

It was Sebastian that broke the silence after a good amount of time had passed.

"She went peacefully," He whispered brokenly.

Blaine blinked, gazing down at him, before pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "Good. That's- that's good."

It wasn't, really. Nothing about this was remotely good, and they both knew it, but Sebastian nodded anyway.

"I miss her so much, Blaine," he whimpered. Then, his shoulders started to quiver, and he couldn't seem to hold it in any longer. Blaine just held onto him for dear life as Sebastian sobbed into his arms, any attempt at hiding his heartbreak completely gone.

Their days pretty much went similar to the first – Sebastian hadn't returned to class, and Blaine ended up skipping a lot of them to be there for him, so that he could spend his days cradling Sebastian in his arms and whispering words of encouragement in his ear.

Needless to say, the Yule Ball approached them in a blur, and really, Blaine found that he was a little nervous.

By all rights, he _shouldn't_ have been. It was supposed to be a bet – one night only, no kissing. That's what he'd told Sebastian.

But who was he kidding? He knew when he'd accepted the bet that Sebastian was going to win. He wasn't an idiot. He _knew_ that Hunter had stalled his broom somehow, yet he still went along with it. He'd built a friendship with Sebastian since then – made out of heartbreak and mutual trust.

 _Friendship_. No, that wasn't quite right. That wasn't all they were.

It had gone unspoken so far. The little looks that they gave each other, the tentative touches, the _sharing_. He knew Sebastian – knew that he didn't just share his feelings with anyone. But for some reason, Sebastian felt comfortable sharing them with Blaine.

Maybe he was over-thinking things. Maybe it was just that Sebastian needed someone to talk to, and Blaine was _there_ at the time, but it didn't feel that way.

So, yeah. Blaine was pretty damn nervous.

The Great Hall was a mass of festivity. Gone were the separated house tables. In their place, smaller, more intimate tables were dotted around the room, leaving space in the middle for a dance floor. Decorated pine trees surrounded the area, small white tree lights strung up wherever there was space for them, and the ceiling had been enchanted to mimic snowfall. He glanced up, watching the small flakes sway from side to side, before disappearing into the air above him.

"Hey, Killer."

Blaine blinked, whirling around on his feet to the source of the voice.

There stood his date, looking gorgeous as ever – his brown hair gelled back, nicely fitted navy dress robes with red lining, and he actually looked a little more at peace than Blaine had seen him in _weeks_. Of course, the shadows of grief were still evident on his face, and there was a slight slouch to his shoulders that just _shouldn't_ be there, but that was a given.

"You look amazing," Blaine told him truthfully, gazing up at him with reverence.

Sebastian's lips twisted into a faint smile – a mask, Blaine could tell. "You too, B," he told him, voice softened.

Blaine resolved then an there to make it a good night for Sebastian. He couldn't bring back his mother – couldn't ease the pain that he was suffering through, but he could at least try to make this night as pleasant as possible.

One step at a time.

As more and more people began to trickle into the hall, the lights went down low, and Blaine and Sebastian took their seats at a free table – one near the back, where they were least likely to be disturbed.

It was a little strange, actually. The table was draped in a white linen tablecloth, and in the middle sat three tealight candles in a triangular shape, surrounded by white rose petals. He felt the heat creep up the back of his neck, make it's way around his cheeks, and he clasped his hands on his lap, staring intensely at them.

He had no idea why he was so nervous, honestly. He knew that Sebastian liked him, but Blaine wasn't planning on making a move tonight. Sebastian was still hurting – still needed time to heal, and Blaine wasn't so selfish to try to force a relationship upon him when he was vulnerable. No, they could wait - they had time.

His friends approached them throughout the night – Rachel with Finn Hudson on her arm, captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and Sam and Tina as each other's dates, with the excuse that they couldn't be bothered to find other people, and that it was easier just to take a friend. A lie, Blaine knew, because they'd been dancing around one another for years, and they weren't as subtle about it as they thought they were.

Soon, though, it was approaching the end of the night. He'd spent most of it sitting with Sebastian, talking about mundane things, flirting ever so slightly, and the other boy's face had relaxed into something a little more natural – something that suggested that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel some day.

When the music slowed, and couples were dancing cheek to cheek, Blaine smiled over at his date. "I'm pretty sure you said I owed you a dance."

A faint puff of laughter left Sebastian's lips – so subtle, Blaine almost missed it. "You don't have to dance with me, B. I was being an ass. Just getting to come here with you is enough."

And, wow. Fuck if that didn't send chills down his spine – send his heart into a flutter, his stomach warm and gooey. Sebastian just gazed back at him intently, lips pressed into a tight line.

Still, he wasn't taking no for an answer – not when Sebastian had gone and said _that_. He rose to his feet, holding out his hand, which Sebastian took without hesitation, and led his date out to the dance floor.

He reached up, resting his palms on the back of Sebastian's neck, and Sebastian snaked his arms around his waist, the skin of their cheeks grazing together ever so slightly as they swayed along to the music. He was pretty sure his face was beetroot, now, in all honesty – because he could feel it burning up, right to the tips of his ears.

"Are you blushing, Anderson?" Sebastian teased, fixing him with a self-satisfied smirk.

"You wish, Smythe," Blaine shot back, but there was no heat behind it, and Sebastian just let out a hearty chuckle, expertly leading him around the dance floor. As they swayed together, their bodies pressed close, Blaine could feel Sebastian stroke his back lightly with his thumb, and Blaine nuzzled into his neck, taking in his sweet scent.

Sebastian stilled, and Blaine's eyes trailed up the smooth skin, back to the other boy's face, who was gazing back at him with an unreadable expression.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, concerned that he'd maybe done something wrong.

"I- can I-"

Sebastian looked nervous, all of a sudden. His forehead crinkled, and Blaine could feel the speed of his heart increase against his own chest. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before opening them to fix Blaine with a serious expression.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked, voice tight.

He'd been determined to wait, of course – give Sebastian all the time that he needed, but Sebastian looked so sincere – so earnest, and Blaine could feel his resolve snap, the final bricks of his walls crumbling in an instant.

Instead of answering, he nudged a little closer to him, their noses mere centimeters apart, and he could feel Sebastian's small puffs of breath against his lips. Then, he closed his eyes, drawing their lips together.

The first kiss was soft – a slight peck, and was over within a few seconds. Still, it was enough to make his heart leap in his chest and set his pulse racing.

He opened his eyes slowly, searching out Sebastian's reaction. Sebastian nudged his nose softly, faint smile on his face, before bringing their lips back together again, this one a little more passionate. Sebastian mapped out his mouth with his tongue, pressing into him, grazing his jaw with his fingers, and let out a filthy groan. For a few minutes it was just them, locked in an embrace of fiery passion. His pulse was racing wildly, and he felt as though his entire body was about to combust with the heat.

When they broke apart, Sebastian's lips stretched into the first true smile he'd seen on him since his mother's passing, all teeth and crinkled eyes, gazing down at Blaine with reverence.

It was a start.


End file.
